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C.D. Waelzholz Opens Cold Rolling Mill in China
04/10/2014 - On 2 April 2014, C.D. Wälzholz KG opened its new cold rolling mill in Taicang, which is situated in the metropolitan area of Shanghai.
The plant was opened in a ceremonial act with about 250 invited guests. The future sales volume for the Asian market will be up to 70,000 metric tons of cold rolled steel strip per year. This investment is one of the largest the German family-owned company has ever embarked on, and it is an important cornerstone of its further internationalization strategy.
Since laying the foundation stone in December 2011, the plant space of the Waelzholz New Material (Taicang) Co., Ltd., the Chinese subsidiary of the German medium-sized company, has been increased to 10,000 square meters. The number of employees will increase to 200. A four-high rolling stand as well as several high convection batch annealing units complete the existing slitting and cut-to-length lines. Thus the service center, which was focused on warehousing, slitting and supply of steel strip provided by Europe, has become a complete cold rolling mill. The company primarily serves customers from the automotive sector, but also customers in the electronics and cutting tools industry.
C.D. Wälzholz is the first German cold-rolling company to offer an entire local premium quality production service in China. When the first steps were taken in the Chinese market with a subsidiary in 2007, the Asian business only amounted to less than 2% of the total sales. In 2011, when the decision was made to reconstruct the plant, sales already amounted to 6%. For the future, the management expects a share of up to 10%. Even today approximately 60% of the customers are Chinese customers of Waelzholz New Material, and they cover about 40% of their sales volume.
“Our state-of-the-art cold rolling mill is the first one of its kind in the Jiangsu province. Please be ensured that we will do everything to turn our work here into sustainable success, of course together with our 115 Chinese employees. This success will be closely connected to the development of our thriving customers in China and Asia”, Dr. Hans-Toni Junius, CEO and proprietor of C.D. Wälzholz, said during the opening ceremonies. “Our worldwide C.D. Wälzholz quality standards for products and services will also apply to China.”
Zhu Wan Li, the TEDA director and a representative for the local promotion of economic development, pointed out the significance of the project for the region and for all of China. He especially emphasized the achievements of Dr. Hans-Jochem Steim, chairman of the management board of the long-time customer and partner KERN LIEBERS, a systems supplier to the automotive, textile and consumer goods industry, for his company was the first one from Germany to establish a business in Taicang.
Dr. Hans-Jochem Steim, talked about the reasons for C.D. Wälzholz’s success. “The reasons for the company’s success are company structures that offer optimal solutions for customers, have committed employees, the idea of a perfect service, technology leadership, continuous quality and innovative ideas. We as customers thrive on such a supplier and hope that the success story will be continued.“
The family-owned company C.D. Wälzholz was founded in 1829 and is situated in Hagen, Germany. It has approximately 1,900 employees worldwide. At nine locations in Europe, North and South America as well as in Asia the, company produces more than 600,000 metric tons of high-quality cold rolled steel strip and profiles per year. With its wide range of steel material solutions, C.D. Wälzholz offers tailor-made solutions for customers in the automotive sector, in energy generation, as well as in the industrial goods sector and for manufacturers of building plant, electrical devices and cutting tools.
Since laying the foundation stone in December 2011, the plant space of the Waelzholz New Material (Taicang) Co., Ltd., the Chinese subsidiary of the German medium-sized company, has been increased to 10,000 square meters. The number of employees will increase to 200. A four-high rolling stand as well as several high convection batch annealing units complete the existing slitting and cut-to-length lines. Thus the service center, which was focused on warehousing, slitting and supply of steel strip provided by Europe, has become a complete cold rolling mill. The company primarily serves customers from the automotive sector, but also customers in the electronics and cutting tools industry.
C.D. Wälzholz is the first German cold-rolling company to offer an entire local premium quality production service in China. When the first steps were taken in the Chinese market with a subsidiary in 2007, the Asian business only amounted to less than 2% of the total sales. In 2011, when the decision was made to reconstruct the plant, sales already amounted to 6%. For the future, the management expects a share of up to 10%. Even today approximately 60% of the customers are Chinese customers of Waelzholz New Material, and they cover about 40% of their sales volume.
“Our state-of-the-art cold rolling mill is the first one of its kind in the Jiangsu province. Please be ensured that we will do everything to turn our work here into sustainable success, of course together with our 115 Chinese employees. This success will be closely connected to the development of our thriving customers in China and Asia”, Dr. Hans-Toni Junius, CEO and proprietor of C.D. Wälzholz, said during the opening ceremonies. “Our worldwide C.D. Wälzholz quality standards for products and services will also apply to China.”
Zhu Wan Li, the TEDA director and a representative for the local promotion of economic development, pointed out the significance of the project for the region and for all of China. He especially emphasized the achievements of Dr. Hans-Jochem Steim, chairman of the management board of the long-time customer and partner KERN LIEBERS, a systems supplier to the automotive, textile and consumer goods industry, for his company was the first one from Germany to establish a business in Taicang.
Dr. Hans-Jochem Steim, talked about the reasons for C.D. Wälzholz’s success. “The reasons for the company’s success are company structures that offer optimal solutions for customers, have committed employees, the idea of a perfect service, technology leadership, continuous quality and innovative ideas. We as customers thrive on such a supplier and hope that the success story will be continued.“
The family-owned company C.D. Wälzholz was founded in 1829 and is situated in Hagen, Germany. It has approximately 1,900 employees worldwide. At nine locations in Europe, North and South America as well as in Asia the, company produces more than 600,000 metric tons of high-quality cold rolled steel strip and profiles per year. With its wide range of steel material solutions, C.D. Wälzholz offers tailor-made solutions for customers in the automotive sector, in energy generation, as well as in the industrial goods sector and for manufacturers of building plant, electrical devices and cutting tools.
